Learning Through Noise

This book argues that the formation of noise music as a distinctive musical genre (and noise music scenes as distinct musical subcultures) relies on the production of unique learning ecologies and vice versa. Noise music does not exist as a musical form that one learns to reproduce, create within, or appreciate in defined educational contexts (i.e. classrooms) separate from where this music lives (venues, recording studios, practice spaces, etc.). Instead, making and listening to noise music in itself represents the primary method of learning about and within the genre. Because the processes of making, listening to, and learning within noise music are deeply intertwined, the book contends that understanding noise music inherently requires understanding the unique and situated learning processes of the genre.  Peter J. Woods  is an assistant professor in learning sciences at the University of Nottingham. Through his research, he explores what and how people learn through creative production in both formal and informal learning settings. In particular, he investigates how cultural contexts (ranging from noise music scenes to math classrooms) and situated technologies both produce and restrict different types of curricula, pedagogies, and knowledge. Previous publications on noise music can be found in  Culture, Theory, and Critique; Teachers College Record; Critical Studies in Improvisation and more. He also teaches numerous courses on learning theory and educational technology.